Spent a couple hours today with four of my favorite females on the planet. These fierce females include an infant, a teen and two dynamic women years younger than me. The common thread is each inspires me to push through doubt, fatigue and procrastination to pursue my dreams as a novelist and screenwriter.
Baby Zora has no idea of who I am or her role in my life. But this gorgeous gift to the world is a constant reminder that time waits for no one. If I want her to read my book one day, well…I better finish it. Her mother, Maya, is one of the smartest and talented (and humble!) young women I know. She has coached me on a business and personal level with grace and expertise. She knows what few do: What I crave in my heart. The advice from this extraordinary go-getter plays like a loop in my head.
Syd is a teen I have known since she was born. Her spunk for life, graciousness under fire and overall zeal for life makes me smile every time I see or think about her. Syd’s mom, Stacy, is the kind of friend that stays up with you until 1:15 a.m. on a work night because you need her help. Focused, friendly and just all around fantastic, I treasure Stacy. Many others do, too. Stacy lives each day with charm and purpose. How awesome is that? Just knowing her makes me strive to do and be my best.
The older I get, the more I realize the necessity of reconnecting with those who “get you” and champion your happiness. Too often, we are surrounded by people playing head games, engaging in power plays and other unpleasantness.
This weekend had a theme: positive people.
On Saturday morning I got a heaping dose of sunshine on a gray winter day by serving as a judge for the 22nd Annual Oratorical Contest for Richmond Public Schools, which was presented by The Richmond Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta.
To be surrounded by students and adults who love the written word is my kind of crowd. We all climbed out of bed early on a Saturday to hear students of all ages move us. New this year were smart touches like awarding every participant a medal and certificate (even judges on the latter). One self-assured third-grader, when asked why she participated, said: “To share my talent.” I can’t say it any better.
This event just gets richer every year!
So, here’s hoping my recap of a weekend that was soul renewing will inspire you to seek out positive people and activities as often as possible. Happiness can be contagious if we spread it around!
About 100 women, and a handful of men and youngsters, donned yellow plastic “hard hats” today and stood in snow-dusted grass smiling at a camera.
They posed in mid-morning winter cold for a group shot to celebrate the founding members of Impact 100 Richmond, an empowering organization of ladies from the metro area who pooled money to transform a non-profit.
The photo was taken at the Southside Child Development Center, the recipient of the first $100,000 grant awarded last year. The center provides affordable child care and preschool for working parents earning less than $22,000 annually.
When I learned about the new initiative last year I immediately signed up as a member of a giving circle. Impact 100 requires individuals or giving circles to donate $1,000 and to vote for the grant recipient.
Our circle, which I named Beloved after the masterful book by Toni Morrison, remains intact. The six of us will help choose this year’s grant winner. Three Beloved members pumped our fists for the camera at a time we’d normally be snuggled under the covers. A party we had attended the previous night made sleeping in more desirable. Still, standing there feeling appreciated for pooling our money to help children meant more than a few more hours of snooze time.
Week two of 2011 is a great time to map out your philanthropic endeavors. Just choose what works best.
Form a giving circle.
Instead of individual gifts, pooling money with others can yield a bigger impact for an individual, family or nonprofit. Start with friends or family who share a similar philanthropic vision. Learn more about giving circles.
Donate your time and talents.
Short on funds? Many nonprofits need mentors and volunteers for as little as an hour a week. Share your time and skills. Become a lunch buddy or a mentor or tutor for a student. Spend time in a nursing home. In the spring, volunteer to mulch, clean and plant flowerbeds at a school. Or clean up a park. Just have fun doing something out of the ordinary to benefit people, your community, the environment or animals.
Make loans globally.
All you need is $25 to help launch or expand an entrepreneur’s business on another continent at Kiva. That’s the minimum amount. The same amount spent on a movie date goes a long way in Africa or Latin America. Times are so tough nationally you can even donate to entrepreneurs in the United states.
Give to creative endeavors.
Give any amount, as little as $1, to help fund a movie, book, performance or other creative project at Kickstarter.
Share a philanthropic vision with children.
Learning to be altruistic can begin at any age. The younger, the better. Like adults, children who volunteer not only make a difference in their community, they can show they are responsible, explore career options and make new friends. Get tips.
We all become richer when we share. As 2011 unfolds, aiming for a wealthy spirit creates a powerful gift that keeps giving.
On the cusp of a new year and I am so struck and humbled by challenges and opportunties that the perfect words to express my current state elude me. So with apologies to Nina Simone for a feeble attempt to capture her joyous ad libs, this song expresses my feelings exactly.
Happy New Year! May we all continue feeling good in 2011! Sing, Nina!
Birds flying high you know how I feel
Sun in the sky you know how I feel
Breeze driftin’ on by you know how I feel
It’s a new dawn
It’s a new day
It’s a new life
For me, yeah,
It’s a new dawn,
It’s a new day,
It’s a new life for me, woooohoooooooooooooooo
And I’m feeling good
Fish in the sea you know how I feel
River running free you know how I feel
Blossom on the tree you know how I feel
It’s a new dawn
It’s a new day
It’s a new life
For me,
And I’m feeling good
Dragonfly out in the sun you know what I mean, don’t you know
The other night as I passed my computer, I heard a wistful voice.
“What have I done wrong?” my blog called out. “Where have you been for the past week?”
In a rush to go to bed, I ignored you, beloved blog. But I’m back. And I have some random thoughts to share.
Last night I met a woman well north of 50 who works three part-time jobs, none with benefits. She calls her way of making ends meet “gigonomics,” a word she believed was added to the dictionary last year. She has been looking for a job for two years. What struck me was her smile and sunny disposition as she shared her story at St. Michael’s Church, where its Jobs Assistance Ministry (JAM) helps the unemployed network, polish resumes and get career advice.
What I also noticed was that only a handful of the 200 or so people present were under 40. It is an outrage what is happening to older workers although I don’t hear much outrage.
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I started reading an advance copy of The Savage City: Race, Murder, and A Generation On The Edge. It’s a fascinating, fast, reader-friendly book by T.J. English about New York City during a ten-year period of racial violence triggered by poverty, racism, police brutality/corruption and the emerging black power movement. I recommend it highly and predict it will be a best-seller.
The final version may differ from the advance copy but I hope the opening sentence remains: When Martin Luther King Jr. visited the great city of New York, he was greeted with a silver letter opener plunged swiftly and unceremoniously into his chest.
The author had me right there.
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Sunday I rediscovered on Youtube two of my favorite songs: “Groovin’ On A Sunday Afternoon” by The Rascals and “Dancin In The Moonlight” By King Harvest. I played each song at full volume about 16 times and will play them again until my groove is gone and my dance shoes are worn.
“Ah-ha-ha, ah-ha-ha, ah-ha-haaaaaa
We’ll keep on spending sunny days this way
We’re gonna talk and laugh our time away
I feel it comin’ closer day by day
Life would be ecstasy, you and me endlessly…Groovin’…on a Sunday afternoon.”
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A tele-seminar with author and attorney Pamela Samuels Young deepened my faith in the kindness and power of women helping each other. She freely shared her resources to aspiring authors eager to self-publish. Not many authors are so giving of their connections. She rocks in all kinds of inspiring ways. I am eager to read her legal thrillers. Pamela published her first stand-alone novel, Buying Time, in November 2009. The Black Caucus of the American Library Association honored it with its 2010 Fiction Award.
* * * * *
So beloved Blog, a snapshot of my recent days. As you can see there is no theme, no story, no epiphanies. I continue exploring life and connecting with amazing life forces. I realize doing so is a privilege, a real blessing. I promise to share more of it with you.
For many, the “Virginia Women’s Conference: A Financial Roadmap for Smart Money Decisions” started too early for a Saturday. But the four-hour program delivered an empowering welcome to the weekend as session speakers, resource tables and old-fashioned networking provided women, many involuntarily out of the workforce, hope and advice for entrepreneurship or traditional employment.
Hosted by Senator Mark Warner, it was his rocking female staff that organized the free program for 300 women, many over 40. Corporations and companies have and continue to boot seasoned employees — you know, the ones making decent salaries. The age disparity is so acute that a pilot program to increase entrepreneurship among job seekers in four states, including Virginia, dropped its age requirement from 52 to 45.
Held at the Richmond Marriott, the conference reflected what’s happening nationally as mostly college educated African-American women attended sessions on “Create Your Next Job…Become an Entrepreneur” and “Re-inventing Yourself During Employment Transition.” Other sessions focused on retirement planning, small-business funding and healthy financial habits.
For many women, the conference, which provided lunch and a gift bag, was a reminder they are not invisible. They matter. They are not alone.
As governor, Warner said he pressed to learn how much business the state did with women and minority-owned businesses and was shocked to discover just 2 percent. More than 50 percent of Virginians are women and one-third are people of color.
The first in his family to go to college, Warner spoke a truth during lunch that resonated. Having pursued and failed at other opportunities as a young man, he hit paydirt when he invested in the cell phone industry and cofounded Nextel.
“I’m blessed and I was lucky. If I had not been born a white guy with the appropriate degrees, I’m not sure I would have gotten a third shot, or a second shot or a first shot,” he said to wild applause.
Government has a role to insure everyone has “a fair shot.” And there is nothing wrong with failure as long as you learn from it, he said.
“Part of the seminar is learning from the speakers and networking among each other. That’s how a lot of folks have been doing it for a long time. You know who I’m talking about,” Warner said.
Politics aside, he spoke from the heart. So did Patricia Miller, a petite dynamo who is the founder & president of Miller’s Office Products, the largest woman-owned office products dealership in the Washington-Baltimore area. She shared her story about how a part-time job in a office supply store led to her becoming a manager a year later and then the owner a year after that. For years, she gave up night-time television to work 2 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Her mantra is “ food, shelter and no debt.” Words many more can live by.
Inspiration, information and connections go beyond boosting self-esteem on a Saturday morning. They are building blocks for women starting anew. As women rebuild themselves, we strengthen our families, our communities, our workforce and ultimately our nation.
Wherever you live, a community of wonderful women writers can be cultivated and nurtured. Look no further for an idea on how to connect new and established writers. Last Friday, female authors, writers and other communicators gathered for what many hope will become an annual networking luncheon with empowering speakers and panel discussions.
Held at the splendid Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, “Write The Power!” united authors and other veteran writers with women aspiring to follow in their high-heeled footsteps. Speakers shared tips, testimonials and the trials and tribulations of starting their own writing-related businesses with a rapt and appreciative audience. Female empowerment and sisterhood filled the air like a divine perfume as participants mingled and exchanged business cards during breaks between the 30-minute sessions.
The three-hour program included author, speaker and entrepreneur Stacy Hawkins Adams, who is working on her eighth novel; Dr. Linnie Carter, who has her own public relations company; Maya Smart, freelance writer and business coach extraordinare; and, author Lillian Lambert.
The brainchild of Carter and Virginia Commonwealth University Professor Bonnie Newman Davis, the program’s topics included managing social media, securing speaking opportunities as authors, using one’s networks to achieve professional goals and running a virtual limited liability company.
My role was to have a conversation with Adams about her speaking engagements that are held in various venues, from conferences to speaker phone chats. Her books have expanded her platform to include such opportunities. Adams is a dear friend who encourages me to pursue my diverse writing interests, which range from journalism and blogging to screenplays and writing a book or two. Broad writing interests was something shared by all the speakers, including Alicia Aroche, associate director, University Career Center, Virginia Commonwealth University.
Everyone walked away wiser. I’ve been a professional writer since my public relations job for Mayor W. Wilson Goode of Philadelphia, but I learned fabulous strategies to help me as a freelance writer.
As if the shared expertise and fellowship weren’t enough, everyone received an unexpected gift, courtesy of another speaker, Carmen Foster, VMFA director of community affairs.
For women writers everywhere, I hope this Richmond program can serve as your template to connect aspiring and seasoned wordsmith-entrepreneuers.
